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Quid pro Quo : Political Trust and Policy Implementation in G reece during the Age of Austerity
Author(s) -
Exadaktylos Theofanis,
Zahariadis Nikolaos
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.259
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 1555-5623
DOI - 10.1111/polp.12058
Subject(s) - austerity , politics , bailout , political science , technocracy , public administration , economics , humanities , financial crisis , keynesian economics , law , philosophy
Why do national governments fail to implement deep reforms in light of strong international and European pressures? Building on the top-down implementation framework by Mazmanian and Sabatier, we argue that political trust underpins the government's implementation track record. We investigate this argument by looking at the failure of the Greek government to implement bailout reforms between 2010 and 2012 in two areas: tax and duty collection and liberalization of taxi licenses. Lower levels of trust decrease administrative capacity and widen problem intractability, creating a vicious cycle of noncooperation and economic recession. Our findings have policy implications for administrative reforms and offer amendments to theories of implementation and institutional rational choice. © The Policy Studies Organization